It Burns So Bright, This Flame Will Never Die.

***Next night***

I sighed and glared at the clock in the kitchen that read 10:56 PM. Ronnie usually was home by 8:30 or 9, depending on what he had to do at the label and in the studio that day. When the clock had hit 9:30, I'd try calling him. Again. And again. And again, with no answer each time.

Travis was still up, even thought his bedtime was 2 hours ago. He refused to go to bed because Ronnie wasn't there to put him to bed like he usually does. He was obviously tired and cranky, he kept throwing a fit every time I tried to take him into his bedroom.

"Travie, you gotta go to bed honey, it's really late." I sighed, struggling to hold my son in my arms as he squirmed around and cried.

"Daddy!" He wailed, practically slamming his face into my neck and crying even louder. I frowned and rubbed his back, his little arms holding a death grip around my neck now.

"Daddy's at work, baby. Momma can't get a hold of him on his phone." He started screaming and I groaned, bouncing him up and down in an attempt to calm him down. All he kept doing was yelling "Daddy" over and over again, thrashing against me.

"Alright, calm down, Travis." I sat down in the rocking chair he had in his room, cooing to him and kissing his long, somewhat curly dark brown hair that matched his dad's natural hair when he didn't dye it jet black.

"Daddy will be here in the morning when you wake up, and we're gonna make him take a day off from work to spend the whole day with you," He started quieting down, and I smiled softly when he lifted his little head up, a cute pout on his lips he inherited from me. "You wanna spend the day with Daddy tomorrow?" He nodded tiredly, wiping at his eyes with his fists. "Will you go to sleep right now so that tomorrow will come quicker, then?" He nodded again, laying his head on my shoulder.

"Let's put you to bed, then." I stood up, laying him down in the crib next to the rocking chair. I tucked him in and handed him his stuffed animal, leaning down and kissing all over his face, making him giggle slightly.

"I love you, baby boy." I cooed, kissing his nose. "Goodnight." I flipped his nightlight on and waved my fingers at him, walking out and closing the door behind me, not all the way.

It was 11:30 before Ronnie finally came home, and I could tell by the look on his face he knew he was in trouble.

"So, I guess the first question should be where you were?" I growled, crossing my arms over my chest. He set his keys, wallet, and cell phone down on the counter, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I went out and had dinner and a couple drinks with one of the bands on the label..."

"And you didn't bother to fucking call me and tell me that?!" I hissed.

"I lost track of time..." He said sheepishly. I rolled my eyes. "Where's Travis?"

"Where do you think he is?" I laughed bitterly. "He's asleep. But he just went to bed only 30 minutes ago because he refused to without you here to tuck him in." Ronnie frowned, looking regretful. "He threw a damn fit for two hours, crying and screaming "Daddy!" over and over again. I had to tell him that we'd make you take a day off from work tomorrow so you two could spend the day together."

"That's fine, I was hoping to take a day off sometime this week anyways." He mumbled.

"Why the fuck did you ignore my calls?" I was pissed off, and definitely wasn't planning on cooling down anytime soon.

"My phone died!" He defended. "Look!" He handed me his phone, and I tried to turn it on, but it didn't. "Okay, fine. But you didn't think of calling me from one of your "buddies" phones?"

"No." He said blankly, staring at me. I shook my head at him. "You're unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable." I walked away and into our bedroom, his footsteps not far behind.

"Look, I'm sorry! I was having a little fun, and I lost track of time!" I rolled my eyes again, not wanting to hear his bullshit excuse.

"Yeah, well your son was worried sick. Like I said, he threw the biggest fit he's ever had in his life," I grabbed a pair of pajamas out of the dresser, purposely slamming the drawer closed. "But hey, at least you were out having a blast drinking while I nearly lost my fucking hearing." I spat, going into the bathroom and closing the door, locking it. I took my time washing my face and getting ready for bed, surprised Ronnie wasn't knocking on the door and begging me to let him in.

I unlocked and opened the door, seeing Ronnie not in here anymore. I raised my eyebrow when I heard two faint voices down the hallway, and a few happy giggles. I walked down the hallway, seeing the nursery's door opened.

"You woke him up?!" I whisper-yelled. Ronnie turned around holding Travis, now wide-eyed. "I came in here to give him a kiss and he woke up!" I sighed in annoyance, running a hand over my face. "Well great. Now he's never going back to sleep."

"You wanna come sleep in momma and daddy's bed, bud?" Travis nodded sleepily, laying his head on Ronnie's shoulder. I shrugged slightly, turning around and walking back into our bedroom. He handed me Trav and I smiled at him, kissing his cheek before I laid him down in the center of the bed, crawling in next to him on my side. Ronnie stripped down to his boxers before joining us.

"Hahahaha!" He evilly laughed, picking Travis up and holding him up above himself, grinning. Travis laughed, obviously now waking up.

"Ronnie, you're gonna get him all worked up and then you're gonna be the one up with him all night." I mumbled, turning on my side facing away from them.

"I think momma's mad at daddy." Ronnie gasped. I heard Travis giggle, and I turned around to glare at Ronnie, but ended up cracking a smile at the sight of our son all cuddled up on his chest.

"Psh, you can't deny our cuteness." He teased. I rolled my eyes, hiding another smile the best I could.

"Oh yeah. Adorable." I grumbled again before turning back over and going to sleep.

$$$

I slowly awoke from my slumber, noticing that Ronnie and Travis were no longer in the bed. I turned my head slightly to look at the clock on Ronnie's nightstand, seeing it read 9:23 AM.

I yawned and stayed in bed for a few minutes to allow my body to wake up before getting up and going to the bathroom. I did my business and washed my face before walking out to the kitchen, seeing Ronnie feeding Travis his breakfast.

"Momma's up!" Ronnie exclaimed, Travis clapped, a huge smile on his face, along with some of his apples and bananas baby food.

"Mornin' lovebug!" I cooed, leaning down and giving Travis a kiss. "Mmm, omnomnom!" He laughed as I pretended to eat his face, using his little hands to push me away, making me laugh.

"No kiss for daddy?" Ronnie gasped in fake-shock as I turned around to get a cup of coffee.

"Ha!" I smirked, shaking my head as I poured the hot black liquid into a mug.

"Momma won't give Daddy a kiss! She's mean!" He whined. I turned around and laughed as Ronnie pouted very dramatically, fake-sniffling. "Tell Momma to give me a kiss!" Travis just smiled, taking the spoon Ronnie had set down and getting some food out of the jar, messily feeding himself.

"Well, 10 percent of it went in your mouth." Ronnie sighed, smiling as Travis giggled when he wiped his face off. "Now tell Momma to give me a kiss." Travis looked at me and I shook my head, smiling. "Daddy's in trouble, no kisses for him." Travis turned back to Ronnie, smiling and continuing to attempt feeding himself.

"My own son won't even help me!" Ronnie huffed. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, pouting and pretending to sniffle again. Travis scooped a bunch of his baby food out of the jar, holding the spoon out to Ronnie, who smiled and leaned into eat it. But instead of feeding it to his dad, he flung the food on his face, making me start to laugh hysterically.

"Travis!" Ronnie groaned, getting up and going to wash his face. He giggled cutely and looked at me, sucking on the spoon.

"That's my baby boy!" I laughed, picking him up and giving him another kiss. He put his hands on my cheeks, squishing my face together. I scrunched up my face and he laughed, continuing to squish my face together for his amusement.

"Oh yeah, be nice to Momma!" Ronnie scoffed when he walked back into the kitchen after cleaning his face off. Travis turned and smiled at me, throwing his tiny arms around my neck. "Momma's boy." Ronnie grumbled.

"Say, you got that right!" I grinned at Ronnie, hugging Travis tightly. "I had to lug him around in my stomach for 9 months, then have my privates practically ripped in half to bring him into this world. It's obvious he's a little more attached to me."

"I made him!" Ronnie argued. "You could not have had that baby without me!" I shrugged.

"I carried him for 9 months, went through 14 hours of excruciating pain to bring him here, breastfed him, changed 80 percent of his diapers, bathed him-"

"I CHANGED DIAPERS!"

"You threw up at the first one you had to change, so I ended up doing it." I laughed, bouncing Trav slightly.

"Well, that was fucking nasty." He shuddered.

"HEY!" I covered Travis's ears. "Watch it!" He put his hands up in defense. "Oh, like he'll repeat that! The only words he knows right now are "Momma","Daddy", "Hungry", and "Doggy"!"

"He knows "Pee", "Cookie", "Truck", "Bath", and "Sleepy" too." Ronnie's eyes widened slightly, and I nodded. "When did he learn those?!"

"He learned them in like, the past month." I scoffed.

"I've never heard him say them!"

"Maybe it's because you're barely around?" I snapped. Ronnie opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"What do you mean I'm not around?!" He yelled, startling Travis.

"Don't yell in front of him." I said softly, turning around and walking away, cooing to Travis quietly. He's seen his Daddy yell before, and I know he does not like it. "You ready for your bath?" I smiled. He nodded, smiling back at me as we walked into the bathroom.

"How the hell am I not around?!" Ronnie asked as he followed us into the bathroom.

"Gee I don't know." I replied sarcastically as I got out everything for Travis's bath, while still holding him.

"You can't fucking say I'm not around, Scarlet." I turned to glare at him. "Watch your mouth!" I felt Trav jump a little, his arms tightening around my neck. "Ronnie, we're not gonna yell at each other in front of our son, so go."

"What is your problem?!" I shook my head, turning on the bath water as Travis whimpered. "Ronnie, leave." We both jumped when the door slammed a few seconds later.

"I'm sorry, baby." I sighed, setting Travis on the counter and taking his jammies off, leaving him in his diaper. He was pouting, and I knew he was sad. I picked him up and set him on the floor, dumping his little bucket of toys into the bath and making sure the water wasn't too hot.

"Come here," I took his diaper off before I picked him up and set him in his little bath floaty thing, grabbing the bubble bath off of the ledge of the bathtub. "You ready for a bubble party?" I grinned, squeezing a bunch of it under the running faucet. A smile slowly creeped on his face as a humongous amount of bubbles filled the tub, and he laughed when I scooped some into my hand and blew them in his face.

"I think I put too much in." I laughed as I turned the water off, the bubbles almost reaching up to his neck. "Ah well, you can never have too many bubbles!"

After playing with bubbles and bath toys, along with actually giving him a bath, it was time to take him out. I lifted him out of the tub, setting him on the big fluffy blue towel I had already laid out on the bathroom floor, quickly wrapping him in it. I took the bath plug out, draining the water and I put his bath toys back in his bucket, setting them to the side. Then I finished drying him off before taking him into the bedroom and setting him on the bed, getting some clothes for him. I dressed him and brushed his hair into place before taking him into his room, setting him in his playpen. "Play with your toys, Momma's gotta go talk to daddy." I sighed, ruffling his wet hair up a bit. He smiled cutely at me, grabbing his toy trucks.

As I walked into the kitchen again, I saw Ronnie getting ready to leave. "Where're you going?"

"Studio." He answered simply.

"Oh, so you're just gonna leave? And not spend the day with your son like you told him you would?"

"Well, I sure as hell don't want to be around a bitch like you right now, so..." My jaw dropped, and he simply looked at me.

"So I'm a bitch for bringing to your attention that you're not around enough?!"

"HOW AM I NOT AROUND ENOUGH?!" He yelled. "I come home every fucking night and put my son to bed, I wake up in the morning and get him up also, and feed him breakfast and sometimes give him his bath before I leave, if I have time, I don't go to the label or the studio on the weekends, so I'm here for 48 hours straight out of the whole week. Now explain to me how I'm not here enough!"

"We don't eat dinner together as a family hardly ever, I'm stuck watching him all day long, plus taking care of the house, the laundry, the dishes, the everything! And all because you care more about your fucking label and your band more than your own damn family!"

"I CARE MORE ABOUT MY CAREER THAN MY FUCKING FAMILY?! Are you KIDDING me?!" He screamed, walking closer to me. "You're fucking STUPID if you think that's the case!"

"Well you obviously do, since you didn't even bother to call me and tell me you were hanging out with one of the bands on your label last night!" I spat, crossing my arms over my chest and taking a step back.

"ONE TIME! ONE TIME I FORGET TO CALL BECAUSE I'M HAVING A LITTLE FUN, CALL THE FUCKING POLICE ON ME AND SEND ME BACK TO PRISON!" I shook my head at him. "You're pathetic, Ronnie."

"I'm pathetic? Well at least I fucking appreciate what I have and what I've been given, and I'm not an ungrateful bitch!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" I screamed, furious now.

"What do you think it means?!" I heard Travis start to cry in his room, making me even angrier knowing I was the cause of it. "I'm ungrateful?! You think I'm an ungrateful bitch?!" He nodded. "Yeah, I do, actually. You don't appreciate shit."

"Fuck you," I spoke with a shaky voice, Travis's cries getting louder. "You don't fucking appreciate what you have; a wife who sticks by her asshole of a husband, and takes care of their son along with their house."

"Yeah, and what do you do for money for this family? Huh? Besides sit on your ass and do shit? Who fucking makes sure we HAVE a damn house?"

I couldn't help it, he pushed me way too far. I threw a punch at him, but he managed to block it. "SIT ON MY ASS AND DO SHIT?! IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK I FUCKING DO ALL DAY?!"

"You don't have a job!" He argued. I started laughing, almost uncontrollably.

"I have one of the hardest, most demanding jobs there is, and it's called being a mother. I don't get lunch breaks, I don't get a certain amount of hours and then I can go home and call it a day, I don't get to just stand in a booth and sing and scream into a fucking microphone, and I don't get paid for it." He rolled his eyes, grabbing his shit off of the counter, obviously getting ready to leave. "Roll your eyes all you want, but you wouldn't last a week in my shoes."

"Whatever." He said as he walked towards the front door. "So I guess I'll just go tell Travis that Daddy doesn't want to spend the day with him like he said last night now! Sound good?!" I yelled after him as he walked out, slamming the door as hard as he could.

I rolled my teary eyes, quickly making my way into Travis's nursery. I frowned when I saw him trying to stand up, grabbing onto his playpen and crying.

"Sssshhh, it's alright baby boy." I whispered shakily, picking him up and hugging him tightly. He buried his face in my shoulder, his tears soaking my shirt.

"I'm sorry you always have to hear Mommy and Daddy fight." I mumbled, kissing his head and rubbing his back. He let out a little sob, and I felt my heart break.

He lifted his head up, pouting with tears coming down his cheeks. He put his little hand on my own cheek, making me realize I I was crying too, and he was wiping my own tears away.

"I love you, Travie." I smiled as he thunked his forehead against mine, making me laugh a little. He gave me a kiss, then buried his head back in my shoulder and hugged my neck tightly.